By RIA Novosti,
Moscow/Perm: The toll in the deadly fire at a nightclub in the Russian Urals city of Perm has risen to 110, authorities said Sunday.
“As of 00:40 a.m. Moscow time, the number of victims of the fire in the Lame Horse club has reached 110,” Perm Region emergencies services said on their website.
A list of the dead identified by names and birth dates is published on the website, but one of the victims is identified only by name.
Russia’s Health Minister Tatyana Golikova, who returned from Perm to Moscow early Sunday, said there had been 109 deaths.
The tragedy occurred during a party to celebrate the Lame Horse club’s eighth anniversary when an indoor fireworks display started a fire that consumed most of the 500-square-meter venue.
A criminal case has been opened for violations of fire regulations that resulted in multiple deaths, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.
President Dmitry Medvedev, who declared Monday a day of national mourning, accused those running the club of gross negligence, and called for harsh punishments.
Russia’s regional prosecutors have been told to organise urgent nationwide inspections of public gathering venues, to avoid a repeat of the tragedy in Perm as the New Year holidays draw near.